Championing STEM for minorities

Championing STEM for minorities

Electrical engineering junior Emily Hernandez wants to see more diversity in the engineering fields and she is doing her part to help.

Emily Hernandez didn’t wait until college to start recruiting fellow minorities to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. She started as an eighth-grader during a University of Memphis camp called Girls Experiencing Engineering near her Germantown, Tennessee, hometown. [Read more…]

Selfless actions, global impact

Melissa Elder is a senior in environmental engineering. Photo by Sam O'Keefe.

Melissa Elder is a senior in environmental engineering. Photo by Sam O’Keefe.

For Melissa Elder, Honduras is more than just another place on the map. It inspired her career path and her research focus. It’s also her mother’s homeland.

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Spelunking for a cause

Michael Bradford, senior in geology and geophysics, works with several organizations to improve caves. Photo by Sam O'Keefe.

Michael Bradford, senior in geology and geophysics, works with several organizations to improve caves. Photo by Sam O’Keefe.

Michael Bradford, senior in geology and geophysics with a minor in geological engineering, does not shy away from dirty work. Currently, he is doing research with the Missouri Bat Census that involves checking caves for bats with White Nose Syndrome (WNS), a disease that causes abnormal behavior in bats and eventually leads to their death.

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Pathways to the perfect fit

Hannah Frye in the neurobiology lab could lead to a treatment for diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Photo by B.A. Rupert.

Hannah Frye, pictured above warming media in the neurobiology lab, is doing work that could lead to a treatment for diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Photo by B.A. Rupert.

At first glance, it is impossible to tell that Hannah Frye, a senior in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry, is helping Robert Aronstam perform groundbreaking research that could lead to treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. But stop her in the Havener Center at lunch and ask her about her work with the chair of biological sciences and she can explain anything from cell signaling to how she measures the calcium levels in a cell’s endoplasmic reticulum and cytoplasm.

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Artist in the community

Lara Edwards spent more than 100 hours working on a mural for the children's library in Rolla. Photo by Sam O'Keefe.

Lara Edwards spent more than 100 hours working on a mural for the children’s library in Rolla. Photo by Sam O’Keefe.

Every time Lara Edwards, who just graduated with her biological sciences degree, takes on a new art project, she makes sure to include an element that she has never tried before. So, when she agreed to paint a mural in the Leola Millar Children’s Library in the Rolla Public Library as part of her Art in the Community class last summer, Edwards fulfilled that requirement. It was the largest project she had ever taken on and the only mural that earned her college credit.

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Superior time manager

Senior Ashley Koesterer is preparing to graduate this spring with two degrees. Photo by B.A. Rupert.

Senior Ashley Koesterer will graduate this spring with two degrees in three years. Photo by B.A. Rupert.

Not every student could handle taking 18 credit hours, serving as student body president, playing intramural sports and being involved in Greek life. But Ashley Koesterer, a senior in business and management systems and economics with a minor in information science and technology, has no trouble doing all of this and then some.

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A ‘down-to-earth’ scholar

Krista Rybacki is a graduate student in geochemistry and environmental geology  from Nashville, Ill. Photo by B.A. Rupert.

Krista Rybacki is a graduate student in geochemistry and environmental geology from Nashville, Ill. Photo by B.A. Rupert.

Krista Rybacki was an exceptional student in high school and continued the tradition with a 4.0 GPA in her undergraduate years as a geology and geophysics major. Now, as a graduate student in geochemistry and environmental geology and a Chancellor’s Fellow, she is conducting research on soil contamination near a lead recycling smelter for her master’s thesis.

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Family man

Jon Silberhorn II and his wife Hollie, with children (from left) Hope, Noel, Michael and Jonathan. Photo by B.A. Rupert.

Jon Silberhorn II and his wife, Hollie, and their children. Photo by B.A. Rupert.

Jon Silberhorn II is usually up before the sun. Every day, he says goodbye to his wife and four young children to be on the Missouri S&T campus early for his 8 a.m. lectures. But he’s not teaching the classes. He is taking them.

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Teaching comes naturally

Kylie Croft is a senior in applied mathematics from Rolla. Photo by B.A. Rupert.

Kylie Croft is a senior in applied mathematics from Rolla. Photo by B.A. Rupert.

Kylie Croft, a senior in applied mathematics, wants to teach high school math. She’s getting some practice by tutoring local high school students in the subject.

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Erica Budler: Never a doubt

Senior Erica Budler says she has never doubted her choice of a major in engineering management. Photo by B.A. Rupert.

Erica Budler is a senior majoring in engineering management. Photo by B.A. Rupert.

Erica Budler has known since eighth grade that she wanted to be an engineer. Admiration for her brother, Nick Budler, a 2009 mechanical engineering graduate, was encouragement enough for her to choose Missouri S&T for her degree. Since starting classes, Budler says, “I have never had any doubt about my decision to come to Missouri S&T or my choice of major, engineering management.”

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